I see a lot of Canadian films. I've written a lot about Take This Waltz, but haven't given the film a full review.
Take This Waltz came on the heels of Away From Her from Sarah Polley. She earned an Oscar nomination for her adapted screenplay based on the Alice Munro short story The Bear Who Came Down a Mountain. Polley wrote and directed Take This Waltz.
Lou (Seth Rogen) is a cookbook author making a lot of chicken. Margot (Michelle Williams) is his wife, a part-time tourism writer. Margo has a chance meeting with Daniel (Luke Kirby) while on assignment in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island.
Margo and Daniel think they know each other but can't place where and how. They find out when taking a cab back home that they live on the same street on the west side of Toronto.
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Polley wrote an incredible seduction scene just with words that would rival most Hollywood seductions. "I want to know what you would do to me," Margo asks Daniel, even though that would never happen.
Take This Waltz has a realistic portrayal of the ramifications of what happens when a relationship is torn apart. Polley uses the imagery of water in such a beautiful fashion. Nearby Lake Ontario is only part of the woven imagery.
We did profile this earlier but worth repeating: Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman showed in this film that they could take on serious roles on the big screen. When they later went on to do other serious roles, neither got the credit for their performances in Take This Waltz.
Toronto is a co-star in the film. The city has a lot of filmmaking but few capture the city like this film: Lake Ontario, Kensington Market, College Street with the Royal Theatre (showing Mon Once Antoine), the Scrambler ride at Centreville Amusement Park on Centre Island and the Toronto ferry, Peter Mansbridge on The National, and Trinity Bellwoods Park.
The cast is peppered with noteworthy Canadian actors such as Jennifer Podemski and Graham Abbey. The title Take This Waltz comes from the Leonard Cohen song.
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Outside of Alias Grace, Sarah Polley has done very little lately. That is a statement without judgment. See her wonderful filmmaking approach. This film is also one of the best Canadian films I've seen in the last decade. We are not about superlatives. You don't even have to tell your friends the film is Canadian. Let them enjoy the film without having to reflect.
video credit: YouTube/StudiocanalUK
photo credit: Take This Waltz film
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